We’re long past the time where you needed to go to a physical location in order to learn a new skill. Where you had to get your bike or your car on the road to take a class.
These days you can master something new from the warmth and comfort of your own home: with an online course. Making pottery is something you can learn and practise at home. In this article you’ll discover exactly what you need to get started.
What do you need to make pottery at home?
First and foremost you need the main resource for ceramics: clay. If you want to throw your pots, you also need a pottery wheel. Of course you can also give your clay shape without a pottery wheel. Once you’ve created the shape you want, your work goes into the kiln. So of course you also need a kiln. Of course you don’t need to own one yourself; here are many pottery studios near you where you can rent a kiln.
As you can tell, pottery tools can take up quite a bit of space. So it’s nice if you can dedicate a separate room or space to pottery, where you can follow along with the lessons and create your first pots in peace. Make sure you have a spot where you can display your creations. It’s a great way to showcase the evolution of your skill.
1. The basic raw material: clay
If you want to make pottery, you need clay. There are three categories of clay: earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The type of clay you should choose, depends on the type of pot you want to make. You also need other tools like a bucket of water, a sponge, a spatula and some scissors.
2. A pottery wheel
A good pottery wheel is essential if you want to throw pots. But the perfect pottery wheel does not exist. Which one you should choose, depends on your personal preference. Definitely consider the price of a quality pottery wheel. It can easily cost about 1000 euro. You can find a good entry-level model made by Shimpo for example. You can read more about pottery wheels in this article.
Of course it’s also possible to make pottery without a pottery wheel. With just your hands and the clay you can create beautiful shapes, by using coils, clay slabs, or maybe casting or press moulds. But throwing pots on a wheel is and will always be a great skill to have. Especially if you want to make bigger pots.
3. Glazing
Want to enhance your piece even further, and give it a finishing touch? Then you need to get some glazes as well. Glaze doesn’t just improve the look of your work, it also makes it functional because it’s now waterproof.
Want to know more about glazing? Take a look at the these pages about the courses (How to use glazes en How to make glazes) or read this article.
4. A kiln.
Once you’ve finished your pot, it’s time to have it fired. For that you can’t just use any oven. Pottery can only be fired with a proper kiln. You definitely don’t need to immediately buy one for yourself. All around you you’ll find potters and pottery studios who will – for a fee – fire your work for you.
5. A work surface – a shelf
You need a work surface (like a table) where you can – as you can already guess – work the clay. It’s a place to knead the clay and to gather all of your tools. So you have everything you need to work on your first pots, at your fingertips. Aside from this work surface, you also need some wooden boards or a wooden shelf where you can put your work to let it dry.
6. A good (online) course and instructor
A good course is another crucial ingredient for a successful pottery journey. Many pottery studios offer regular classes, but you can also find a lot online. If you’d prefer going to a pottery studio, take into account that you’re likely to end up on a waiting list. If you’re eager to get started today, you might need to be patient and wait a while until you can actually get started.
If you want to learn pottery at home, you’ll find a ton of valuable info online. Many blogs and website – for example the Cursist – are sharing tips and advice on how to get started with pottery at home. If you want to get good quickly, and can’t wait to create pieces that you can actually use, a structured course with an excellent instructor is the way to go. The online courses the Cursist offers make a great starting point.
Firstly, our courses don’t just focus on the basic techniques. We offer an introductory course to learn how to throw, but we also have coruses for semi-advanced and advanced potters. And we have courses that focus on specific aspects of the pottery making process, like glazing, decorating, or making casting moulds for casting clay.
You can also be sure that you’re learning from an excellent instructor. Potters who have years of experience and know all of the ins and outs of pottery. And who also know how to teach this skill to others, and make even the most complex steps easy to understand.
In other words: the courses offerd by the Cursist are a great way to get started on your pottery journey. Do you want to know more about the courses? Take a look at the dedicated page we created for each course!
Why make pottery at home?
A better question is: why not make pottery at home? It is very possible for anyone to learn, practise and master this new hobby at home. As we already mentioned, you only need a few supplies to get started.
So let’s look at the benefits of an online course:
- You don’t have to wait until a spot is free at a pottery studio.
The waiting lists for many studios are miles long. With an online Cursist course that’s no problem for you. Because once you’ve bought your course, you can immediately get started.
- You can schedule pottery practise whenever you have some time free.
There’s no need to clear a whole evening in your busy schedule at the same time every week. An online course is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s patiently waiting for you until you have time to start the next lesson. That means it’s perfect for people with flexible work schedules, busy home lives or changing working hours.
- All that matters is your own tempo.
Want to go slowly, or rather speed it up a bit? You progress through the online course at your own pace. If something is unclear, you rewind and rewatch. If you’re already familiar, you fast forward. You’re in control with an online course!
- It saves you time
One thing you don’t have to do, is commute to and from the pottery studio. And the coffee at home is exactly how you like it! Maybe you’ll be drinking it from a handmade mug soon?
- When you have unexpected free time, you end up practising pottery
You will soon find that once you have started learning pottery, your hands might start itching to create something in an unexpected moment. If you’re learning pottery at home with an online course, then you have everything you need to scratch that itch right at your fingertips. You log in, start the next lesson and suddenly your downtime has transformed into fun pottery practise. Talk about handy!
- The video lessons all focus on the hands of the instructors.
The online courses Cursist offers all consist of video lessons. And every video focuses on the movements the instructor is making. So you can see exactly what and how they’re doing it. Would you like to see it again? Then rewind the video. Want to watch the movements at a slower pace? Then you can simply reduce the playback speed of the video.
With a Cursist video lesson, you’re not only getting a private lesson each time, you can also literally look over the shoulder of a master potter.
- The online courses are clear and structured.
Every pottery course offered by Cursist follows a clear logic. You start by learning the basic knowledge and skills, and end with a finished project. Each course is tailored to a specific skill level. You can read more about the courses on the overview page for all courses.
- You get online support
Depending on the course you take, you will be given access to a private Facebook group where you can ask your questions, you’ll be invited to live online Q&A sessions or you’ll be given access to a survey. In the Facebook group or during the Q&A session you can show your work, ask for feedback and have your questions answered. That way you never get ‘stuck’ and will always stay on track on the journey towards your first finished pot.
- You learn together with your fellow students
You never feel alone on your pottery journey, because you’re connected with your fellow students through the closed Facebook group. You can see what they’re making and you can show your own work if you want. So you can learn from and inspire each other.
Ready to take a running start? Then start learning pottery at home. With this handy roadmap you can get started today. It gives you clear guidance to get you on the right track right away, so you’ll be making your own pottery at home in no time.
